There’s something refreshing about being able to call up Dan Mangan and have the number still start with a 604.
The Vancouver musician, who achieved national household-namedom for being the first West Coast artist signed to Toronto’s illustrious Arts & Crafts record label (and has since resisted the lure of all the other eastern “making it” meccas), happily stays right where he started it all.
In doing so, Mangan has managed to become one of Canada’s most popular artists without giving up the luxury of being Vancouver’s most beloved.
From regularly promoting Vancouver’s avant-garde, experimental music scene to headlining local celebrations like the city’s 125th birthday, Mangan never shies away from reminding the world where he’s from. And it’s this reciprocal relationship with the people of Vancouver that saw the singer-songwriter reach the top of the list when Westender recently tallied its 2015 Best of the City readers’ choice results.
It’s not the first time he’s received such an honour.
“To be honest, being anointed as sort of ‘Vancouver’s house band’ is great – we love it – but we try not to put too much thought into how that happened,” he laughs, when told the good news by phone.
The conversation quickly turns serious, however, as we delve into labels that aren’t as embraced, such as the lingering, one-note image – despite executing an ambitious sonic evolution – projected upon him as an artist.
It strikes a nerve.
“I’d have this great conversation with a journalist and feel like we totally connected on all these levels,” Mangan recalls, “and then I’d read the article and it would be like, ‘Oh, he’s bearded and he wears plaid and he’s this Canadian, friendly, DIY guy’.
“There was this tendency to just go to these simple, ‘low hanging fruit’ ideas of who I was or whatever,” he concludes, a hint of frustration in his voice.
Yes, the Dan Mangan who crafted the cheery Nice, Nice, Very Nice is actually a little bent out of shape six years into his mainstream career. Not with the fans who clearly adore him, but with a world that seems stubbornly against getting to know him.
“I don’t think there was a chip on my shoulder,” he says, “but I think there was a willingness to reinvent myself a little bit.”
A large part of that reinvention involved relaunching, after an extended hiatus for side projects and fatherhood, as Dan Mangan + Blacksmith.
Initially misconstrued as a new band, Blacksmith is actually comprised of the same “heavy fuckers” – Kenton Loewen, Gordon Grdina, John Walsh (and often Jesse Zubot, JP Carter and Tyson Naylor) – who have been with him since the beginning of his ascent from struggling, self-financed musician to star more than half a decade ago.
“I don’t know how I did it,” he says of the depth of talent in the band. “I’m unquestionably the worst musician on stage,” he laughs. “So it’s a beautiful thing to feel like you can lean back and they’re going to catch you. Whatever trip I’m on when approaching a song, I can explain myself in a sentence or two and they know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Sharing the spotlight has also allowed Mangan’s musical identity, one sometimes ironically criticized as being vague, to finally coalesce.
“My early work drives me crazy!” he exclaims. “I always felt, with every other record, ‘If only I had had a little bit more time or money, you know, I could make this a bit better.’ But this record feels like a finished thought,” he says confidently.
“And because it was such a group dynamic in creating it,” he adds, “I feel like I can brag about this record a little bit more. It’s not me; it’s that group of people, that time frame. It feels like a step forward into a new era of my body of work.”
And this Blacksmith move has had one other very important effect...
“What I realized afterwards,” he adds with a laugh, “is that the band name is giving people a new reason to write about us.”
And he’s half serious, although the tonal shift of his fourth album would be reason enough to cover Club Meds.
The good-natured, self-deprecating troubadour is at his best on this album, burying his “plaid” tendencies under swelling layers of instrumentals and bold lyrical themes that reflect the political events on his mind at the time.
Being touted as Peter Gabriel meets Grizzly Bear with a dash of Thom Yorke, it’s still quintessentially Dan Mangan – the overall effect like weaving an edgy new pattern into a cozy old Cowichan sweater.
In the standout “Kitsch”, Mangan’s gravelly baritone anchors arpeggiated beeps and kaleidoscopic ripples, driving the song through the fuzzing streets of Blacksmith city. And listeners scanning the 11-track playlist for the hit-making hooks of “Robots” or its ilk are instead treated to the intense emotional climax of lead single “Vessels” (from the indie film Hector And The Search For Happiness). You’ll also want to experience Ben Clarkson’s mushroom trip of a music video, starring singing inukshuks and head-bobbing loons.
We’ll spare you the pause and rewind and confirm that, yes, those are Dave Grohl’s vocals chanting away in the background. It’s a subtle cameo – one Mangan himself is slow to talk about.
“We’ve had to approach it kind of carefully,” he explains of the high-profile collaboration. “You have somebody like Dave Grohl on your record, you can’t just go flogging him and all of his notoriety for all its worth. He’s constantly playing on different records and stuff, but he does it all kind of quietly, without taking away any juice from Foo Fighters.”
Mangan met Grohl in LA while working on the soundtrack for Hector – one of the side projects he explored during his three-year performing break. Coming after the success of Mangan’s third album, 2011’s Oh Fortune, (which received two Juno Awards and a Polaris Music Prize listing) it might have seemed like an inopportune time-out, but seven years of near-non-stop touring had taken their toll.
Now, the entire ensemble is returning refreshed. And fans can expect to get the best of both Mangans this tour – the band planning to strike up a mix of new and old work alongside their largest set production yet. The audience will also get a glimpse into Mangan’s pre-fame days with the addition of Canadian grunge legend Hayden to the lineup.
“It’s amazing,” says Mangan, his grin audible over the phone. “Anyone who came near my dorm room at UBC heard some Hayden music at some point.”
• Dan Mangan + Blacksmith are in Vancouver for two all-ages shows March 13 and 14 at the Vogue (918 Granville). Tickets $39.50 at NorthernTickets.com.
